Please Help - General GPRS Questions

[TheTwo]

Hi,

i've recently started using my vodacom contract sim and prepaid sims to surf the internet, the first time I used this it was fairly quick (about a month ago). Ever since then it's been pathetically slow, last nite at around 10pm, I had the Vodacom sim in my Samsung D600 and used this as a modem.

Google took like 20secs to load, then on the next attempt it didnt load etc, other sites were simply not able to display. I then tried my Virgin sim in the phone and that just wasnt working AT ALL...

Isn't GPRS supposed to be quicker than dialup? It's definitely Not!!!

Should I now get an MTN sim card and is THIS faster than a normal telkom dialup?

 

[Pitbull]

Hi,

i've recently started using my vodacom contract sim and prepaid sims to surf the internet, the first time I used this it was fairly quick (about a month ago). Ever since then it's been pathetically slow, last nite at around 10pm, I had the Vodacom sim in my Samsung D600 and used this as a modem.

Google took like 20secs to load, then on the next attempt it didnt load etc, other sites were simply not able to display. I then tried my Virgin sim in the phone and that just wasnt working AT ALL...

Isn't GPRS supposed to be quicker than dialup? It's definitely Not!!!

Should I now get an MTN sim card and is THIS faster than a normal telkom dialup?

You could try changing the initialization string command. Don't know the ones for Vodacom maybe someone else could help you with this.

 

[ic]

You could try changing the initialization string command. Don't know the ones for Vodacom maybe someone else could help you with this.

What specifically would help in an init string to improve GPRS throughput?

 

[Pitbull]

What specifically would help in an init string to improve GPRS throughput?

On MTN we have about 3 different ones it helps if you change the APN part of the INT string, one APN could be congested... just a thought though

 

[ic]

On MTN we have about 3 different ones it helps if you change the APN part of the INT string, one APN could be congested... just a thought though

AFAIK most Vodacom data customers will be using the 'internet' APN, which [AFAIK] is load-balanced according to region.

It's far more likely that trying to get a better quality signal will help - see if there is a difference in throughput outdoors compared to indoors, failing that congestion on the GPRS network is the more likely cause.

 

[TheTwo]

Hmmm

Okay, I didnt realise that there could be signal issues although sometimes it's VERY quick and at other times the connection is pathetic...

I never move my PC though or phone, always in the same spot yet the speeds differ...

Oh well, I guess i'll keep trying...

Thks for the tips though...

 

[Zax]

Welcome to the real world...

Hi,

i've recently started using my vodacom contract sim and prepaid sims to surf the internet, the first time I used this it was fairly quick (about a month ago). Ever since then it's been pathetically slow, last nite at around 10pm, I had the Vodacom sim in my Samsung D600 and used this as a modem.

Google took like 20secs to load, then on the next attempt it didnt load etc, other sites were simply not able to display. I then tried my Virgin sim in the phone and that just wasnt working AT ALL...

Isn't GPRS supposed to be quicker than dialup? It's definitely Not!!!

Should I now get an MTN sim card and is THIS faster than a normal telkom dialup?

Yes, theoretically you should be able to get about 80kbps out of your GPRS link. Sure thing signal quality can play a role, but just scan through the threads on this forum to get an idea of how well GPRS is performing. I have been getting sub-dial-up speeds for some time now and still trying to get it resolved. Initial investigations by Vodacom pointed to congestion out of my local tower, however the increase in timeslots had little effect, particularly in the last week or so.

Try going onto the net at ridiculous times (for most normal people that is) eg 4 am and see how it performs then - if it is traffic overload that you are experiencing at normal times, then you should be getting much better throughput at 4am.

I am not sure where this is all going to at the moment on VC, but we don't seem to be getting much better on VM either (from posts on the CellC Virgin forum - my VM connection also runs via VC cause no CC towers here so I can't tell where the problem is). Quite a few reports dotted through these 2 forums (or should it be fora?) seem to indicate that MTN GPRS is performing OK - maybe someone else can confirm this?

_mm_mm_ (how about an icon for hanging on by your fingernails?)

 

[TheTwo]

it's sucking my will to Live

Hey Zax, thks for the reply and all the info...

This is really getting ridiculous! Last nite at around 9:30pm I firstly couldnt connect to VM, then I could at ridiculous speeds, google took a whole 30secs. Their service agent said sorry the technical guys just left but he's able to surf..
VC was absolutely slow as well and disconnected all the time...

I mean I had such a good speed the first time I connected a few weeks back but since then nothing.. I live in Killarney

Dialup is FAR better than this...
Shouldnt GPRS have at LEAST a better transfer rate than dialup and worst of all is that although it may disconnect etc, there's data tansfer going on all the time and i'm getting charged for this :-(

Should I really get an MTN sim now or just give up!

 

[ic]

..., there's data tansfer going on all the time and i'm getting charged for this :-(
...

Sounds like you need to find out what is transferring data all the time when you're not doing anything on your PC.

The most common reason for a very slow connection is actually not a slow connection, instead is malware: spyware & adware that infects a PC and sucks up all the bandwidth on an internet connection - to the point where no bandwidth is available for the user to use.

Step1: download & install Netlimiter to find out which application(s) are generating traffic.

Step2: shape down the bandwidth available to suspicious applications.

Step3: use anti-malware s/w to get rid of the culprits - there are a number of threads about this, search the forum for: malware.

 

[TheTwo]

Thanks but...

Thanks for the info on Netlimited, I'm downloading it now but... I dont really think that could be the problem, it's a new installation (my PC) I've turned off everything from automatic updates etc, and then there's just MS Office...

But I will install the Software and try it out, I really WISH GPRS could be better on my machine. OR at least have somebody to compare with.. I mean I dont even know what speeds to expect etc... :-(

Maybe I get an MTN sim card today...

 

[MacNabs]

Okay, I didnt realise that there could be signal issues although sometimes it's VERY quick and at other times the connection is pathetic...

I never move my PC though or phone, always in the same spot yet the speeds differ...

Oh well, I guess i'll keep trying...

Thks for the tips though...

If you using bluetooth, you can take your phone outside, do a little bit of walking around until you find the best signal. Then leave your phone outside. I do this sometimes in extreme cases when my connection is just so slow.

 

[ic]

Thanks for the info on Netlimited, I'm downloading it now but... I dont really think that could be the problem, it's a new installation (my PC) I've turned off everything from automatic updates etc, and then there's just MS Office...

But I will install the Software and try it out, I really WISH GPRS could be better on my machine. OR at least have somebody to compare with.. I mean I dont even know what speeds to expect etc... :-(

Maybe I get an MTN sim card today...

If your connection is transferring data when you're not doing anything, then something on your PC must be generating that traffic...even if you do use an MTN sim it would be wise to find out what is causing the unknown data transfer as well as how much data transfer is being generated...

New Windoze installations are especially vulnerable before M$ service packs & hotfixes as well as anti-malware and firewall s/w have all been installed - your PC is exposed to all sorts of dangers the moment you connect to the net.

 

[kwmf]

Yes, theoretically you should be able to get about 80kbps out of your GPRS link. Sure thing signal quality can play a role, but just scan through the threads on this forum to get an idea of how well GPRS is performing.

80kbit is what you can theoretically get on coding scheme 4 if you can grab the maximum allowable time slots.

Coding scheme is determined by signal quality and strength, if I recall CS4 was only about 25% of the cell - but I stand to be corrected. Most people will generally fall into the CS2 or CS3 range which is essentially dialup speeds. If your signal is really bad you will get CS1.

Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gprs if you really want to get into it.

 

[Zax]

80kbit is what you can theoretically get on coding scheme 4 if you can grab the maximum allowable time slots.

Coding scheme is determined by signal quality and strength, if I recall CS4 was only about 25% of the cell - but I stand to be corrected. Most people will generally fall into the CS2 or CS3 range which is essentially dialup speeds. If your signal is really bad you will get CS1.

Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gprs if you really want to get into it.

With CS4 you can get a maximum of 171kbps with the maximum of 8 timeslots, however as far as I can gather we are limited to Class 12 operation which restricts the number of slots to 4 - this means you could get a maximum speed of 86kbps. I agree that it may be difficult to get CS4 since you need a good radio path. CS4 uses a minimum of overhead bits which limits error correction - thus the noisier your radio signal, the lower the coding scheme used to maximise the channel reliability. The actual data throughput per timeslot is as follows:
CS4 - 21.4kbps
CS3 - 15.6
CS2 - 13.4
CS1 - 9.05

Thus there are a lot of possible reasons for the slow speeds e.g.:
- Poor signal - maybe forced as far as CS1
- Congestion on your local tower - insufficient slots - maybe you only get 1 slot...
- Congestion somewhere else in the network.
You could get only one of the above or a combination...leaves you going nowhere fast!

 

[Skeptik]

Are you using it via cable or blueteeth

 

[Gunny]

more importantly is your blueteeth on

 

[TheTwo]

Blueteeth off

cos i'm using a cable...